Game news EA (FIFA 23, The Sims) wants to recruit you, but you don’t know it yet! Interview with Kim Tyler.
The video game industry is desperate for new talent with different profiles to keep renewing itself. Awareness, training, working conditions… Electronic Arts has been actively encouraging creative talents (drawing, storytelling, etc.) to discover the video game sector for several years now. Kim Tyler Vice, President of People Practices at EA, tells us about it.
There are so many opportunities for creativity and storytelling. We want people to know that the video game industry is the perfect place for creatives, whether they’re just out of college or looking to make a career switch. … No matter what kind of creative you are or where in your career you are, there are opportunities for you.
Overview
- Importance of creative professions in the video game industry
- Diversity and inclusion: the key to more originality
Importance of creative professions in the video game industry
When we think of people who work in the video game field, we immediately imagine a horde of developers glued to their computers. If their work is indeed essential, it would be in vain without the participation of the creative teams, which make it possible to shape both the content and the form of the game in development. Not to mention the production teams, marketing and other essential branches. In the world of video games there are many professions that are too little known and informing the general public about them has become a real challenge these days. In the case that the round table on the place of women in the industry hosted by Xbox, the lack of information and orientation on video game professions had been widely discussed. In this perspective, the Academy of Video Game Arts and Techniques recently launched a podcast offering to discover 50 video game professions by 50 women, for example. In a more focused register, Marine Macq’s book, Imagination of video gameshas shed light on the profession of concept artist.
From the graphics to the soundtracks of our games, video games offer plenty of opportunities to be creative.
But the work also has to come from the studios. Awareness and orientation are of course two very important points, but the players in the field must also find ways to attract and welcome new creative profiles. Fortunately, many studios have already addressed the problem. This is especially the case with Electronic Arts. Kim Tyler, Vice President of People Practices in the US company, especially wants EA to be open to many profiles, wherever they come from. And this is mainly done through the apprenticeship process.
The creative arts play a vital role in game development and we want our audience to know that. To grow the next generation of creatives in the industry, we have developed our internship program at an international level. The latter includes more than 65 pupils in Europe alone, and ranges from more traditional areas such as programming or engineering to more creative areas such as art or design.
Diversity and inclusion: the key to more originality
First point: welcome new profiles. Second point: welcome new and different profiles. Because if finding new creative minds is difficult in itself, the goal is also to offer diversified teams whose members have different backgrounds and references. By recruiting too many of the same profiles, we inevitably end up with people who think the same and develop more or less the same. That’s why EA has sought to welcome many ethnic or sexual minority creatives into its midst. For a number of years, EA was one of the companies where it was good to live if you belonged to the LGBTQ + community. And there is no secret, to become one you have to rethink the way it recruits new employees.
Inclusive recruiting is an important part of EA’s Hiring For Results program, and more than 300 managers and 1,500 other employees receive this training each year.
But if recruiting is good, it’s even better to retain these talents. Take, for example, a group that is still underrepresented in the video game industry: women. At the roundtable we mentioned above, the speakers mentioned the fact that not only were there few women in the industry, but on average they didn’t stay long in the studios. An observation in particular because of the working climate or the fact that you are limited to the same function with no prospect of evolution. EA has fully understood these issues and is working to make its business a pleasant and attractive place for all types of employees. This means promoting the principles of diversity, equality and inclusion (what EA calls DEI) within the company or the importance of not forgetting these people and providing them with regular career opportunities.
We strive to attract, engage, develop and retain diverse teams and have increased the share of minority talent in various sectors. This includes the overall increase in the number of female talent from 24.5% to 25.5% from November 2021 to October 2022 {…} We increased the number of minority talent in leadership roles from 46% over the past two years.
However, there is still work to be done.*.. But the fact that these issues are now central to the vision of a giant like EA, as well as other studios, bodes well for the future. A advancement that will surely benefit creative people who were previously reluctant to enter a field that is nevertheless rich in opportunity, but also the industry. Because who says more varied profiles, says that different visions and new creativity breathe the following games. If you’re the type to point the finger at the fact that games are all alike, know that one of the easiest ways to counteract this phenomenon is, of course, to welcome new and varied games. And maybe you are one of those creative profiles that the industry needs to renew itself, who knows.
There are so many opportunities to explore when we talk about the future of video games and it makes this a particularly exciting time to join the industry.